Seattle man charged with pimping child after national sting

King County prosecutors have filed child prostitution charges against one of four local men arrested during a nationwide sting targeting child prostitution.

The three-day joint effort — dubbed Operation Cross Country IV by the FBI – saw 52 child prostitutes recovered and 60 alleged pimps arrested, including Seattle’s own Troy Deshone Sanders and three other Seattle men. Sanders was charged Tuesday with promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor; another man who was arrested and released has had his case referred to prosecutors.

According to charging documents, a 16-year-old girl apparently working for Sanders, 23, was contacted by police on Sept. 12 in a high-prostitution area near Sixth Avenue North and John Street.

After being returned to her guardian’s home in Tacoma, the girl returned to Sanders, police claim. Concerned for the girl’s safety, the girl’s guardian agreed to provide police with Sanders’ license place number.

Searching for the girl online, Seattle police Sgt. Ryan Long located an sexually suggestive advertisement with the girl’s cell phone number. Officers arraigned a sting operation at a motel, when the girl was again taken into custody, as was Sanders.

On Monday, an FBI agent and a victim specialist met with the girl’s guardian. During the interview, investigators learned that the girl had received a call from Sanders the day he was released from jail and continued to communicate with him.

“When the defendant bailed out … he immediately contacted the victim, in violation of the no contact conditions set by the court,” Deputy Prosecutor Carol Spoor said in charging documents. “The victim in this matter will remain at risk and in jeopardy so long as the defendant is out of custody.”

In police statements filed with the court, investigators assert another man, an as yet uncharged 30-year-old, was caught prostituting a 20-year-old woman following a related sting operation Friday. He has since been released from jail after posting $10,000 bail, according to King County Jail records.